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by CassieWolfe
Summary: One-shot. Jack isn't sleeping.


**Two one-shots in one day! I'm really on a roll. More fluffy hurt-comfort with Jack and Bunny.**

**I am not a massive movie corporation, so I do not own this.**

Contrary to the belief of the other Guardians, Bunny was quite perceptive. For example, he was the first one to notice something wrong with Jack's behaviour. He always stayed the night after the monthly Guardian meetings at the North Pole. He always seemed to have dark circles under his eyes, and sometimes he'd nod off if nothing very exciting was happening.

Bunny went to Sandy with this knowledge. Sandy was probably the Guardian who was closest to Jack, so it only made sense.

"Sandy, did ya notice how tired Jack seemed at the meeting a few days ago?"

Sandy thought about it, then nodded. _Boy, flying, crossed out Zs._

"Ya think he's not sleeping well?"

_Crossed out Zs._

"Ya think he's not sleeping at all? Why?"

_Boy and bed. Bed crossed out._

"He doesn't have a bed?"

_Boy, people in front of house. Crossed out._

"He doesn't have a home?"

Sandy nodded again and flashed a thumbs up.

Bunny frowned. "I guess I'll have to fix that."

Bunny found Jack curled up in a tree overlooking his lake in Burgess. The winter spirit looked to be asleep, but anyone who'd seen him dozing at the Guardian meetings would know he could jerk awake if someone so much as sneezed. Which made sneaking up on him rather difficult. Bunny told himself he was sneaking up so that Jack wouldn't fly away, but honestly he just wanted to see the gratifying leap when Jack realized there was someone there.

"Boo!" Bunny said quietly when he was within a few feet of the sleeping boy. Sure enough, Jack flew right off his branch, nearly hitting Bunny with deadly sharp shards of ice.

"What are you doing here, 'Roo?" Jack yelled a little louder than necessary.

"Sorry, mate," Bunny said, still laughing. "I just wanted to talk to you about something, but it was too good a chance to miss!"

Still slightly miffed, Jack settled back onto the tree branch. "So, talk."

"Do you have a home?" Okay, that came out blunter than Bunny had meant.

Jack hesitated. "Not really. What do you mean by "home"?"

Bunny overlooked the question, instead asking one of his own. "Where do you sleep?"

"Usually here, in the trees, or sometimes in Antarctica. Nobody bothers me _there_."

Ignoring that statement, Bunny said with annoyance, "But ya can't just stay out in the cold all the time. Ya know ya have a place with all of us right? Or you would if you asked."

"Bu- but I don't want to bug you. And the Warren's really the only place I feel safe."

"You're not bugging me. Ya can always stay at the Warren. Always, got it?"

The winter spirit looked shocked, like it had never occurred to him that he might be wanted or missed.

"Are- are you sure? You always kick me out when I try to come visit or help – you know, with Easter."

Now that was a piece of news.

"When ya come around, it's to help me with Easter? I always thought ya were just, ya know, trying to set a prank or something."

"Um, yeah," Jack said, seeming quite unsure of himself, a strange sight on the confident immortal. "I know. You, uh, never really gave me a chance to explain."

"I'm sorry," Bunny said softly. "I never gave ya a chance with anything, did I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look, I should never have blamed ya for Easter last year. Or '68. That wasn't your fault."

Jack looked stunned. "But- it was. I ruined your holiday!"

"No. Pitch ruined my holiday. Ya didn't."

Jack's face was hopeless. How could Bunny have let that hope die out? It was his job to protect hope, not destroy it with harsh words.

"And '68? How did I not ruin it? You seemed pretty certain then!"

"I don't know what happened, but I know now that ya wouldn't do that."

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, Theros was beating me up again. I got so scared and angry, I guess I just blew up. I didn't mean to bury all the eggs."

Something occurred to Bunny then. "Jack, do ya believe in the Guardians?"

"Well, of course. I am one."

"I don't mean that. I mean, like the kids do."

Something in Jack's eyes shattered. "Look at your precious globe," He snarled. "Do you see a light at the Pole? Or in the Warren?"

"When did ya stop?"

He sighed. "Is it any of your business?"

"No," Bunny admitted, "But I'd like to know."

"I stopped at different times for each of you, and I still believe in Sandy. Dreams are real, even if they never come true."

"What about the rest of us?"

"Tooth first, since I didn't have any memories to believe in. Then North. I- I tried to come see him. I tried writing letters, breaking in, everything. He never noticed me."

"And me?"

The winter spirit looked away. "I think you already know. Easter, 1968. You– I held on to hope for more than two hundred and fifty years. But that day– you were my last hope for someone to talk to, someone who could see me and wouldn't drive me away. I was waiting for you, to talk to you, but Theros showed up with a few of his summer spirits. I just – lost control of my fear, and between my staff and the Anemoi, soon I had a blizzard on my hands, and you know the rest."

"I showed up and blamed ya for everything. Right?"

Jack nodded.

"I'm sorry."

"I know."


End file.
